A social story is one in which the characters demonstrate a bit of appropriate behavior. Generally, the behavior is one that the child-listener (or child-reader) needs to learn or improve. A good social story sets the stage for the targetted appropriate behavior.

The power of a social story to help your child is directly related to how well your child fits into the story. You can help your child buy into the story by using some of the following strategies.

Make your child the main character -- Use childs name, nickname, or silly personal name. For example, call your child Prince [name] or Queen [name]. EXAMPLE: When it was time for "Princess Busy Beth" to go to bed, ...

Personalize the story so that your child feels at home -- Include family pets and favorite objects, if appropriate to the story. Include props that your child recognizes. EXAMPLE: Princess Busy Beth ran to get a treat for her dog, Patches.

Be specific about the setting(s) in the story -- Describe scenes that your child is familiar with. The classroom, the family car, the bedroom, the local McDonald's are specific settings. EXAMPLE: Princess Busy Beth always wiped the mud off her shoes. Sometimes she had so much mud that the W-E-L-C-O-M-E mat at her back door only said C-O-M-E when she was done.

Be specific in describing other characters in the story -- If your child might focus on another character (rather than on the one that represents him/her), then it might facilitate learning to invent other characters who behave appropriately. EXAMPLE: Jackie always rides the school bus with Princess Busy Beth. When Jackie gets on the bus, Princess Busy Beth says, "Jackie, come here and sit with me." Jackie says, "Okay."

Write actual, realistic dialog appropriate to the ability of the target child --- Don't write *about* what needs to be learned == have the characters *do* what needs to be learned. EXAMPLE: Princess Busy Beth rubbed her shoes very hard on the mat. She looked to make sure her shoes were clean all over. Then she went into the house. The King and Queen said, "How nice your shoes look. Will you tell us how you got so much mud off your shoes?" Busy Beth said, "I rubbed them very hard on the mat. I looked to make sure my shoes were all clean before I came inside."

Repeat the important points in the story -- The above example about wiping dirty shoes off before entering the house follows up with the main character describing what s/he had just done. In a full story, the problem may have been described near the beginning of the story. Next, the child might have figured out the solution s/he was going to use.

Involve your child when you write the story -- Ask, "What happens next?" or similar questions. Take dictation. Remember, you can still edit the final version of the story before publishing it. (And you can re-edit at any time, if you identify helpful changes.)

Have the target child illustrate the story with drawings -- Artistic ability is irrelevant. Some parents prefer to illustrate the story themselves. Photographs and magazine pictures are appropriate for some stories, e.g., for riding the school bus or ordering at a fast-food restaurant.

When using social stories for learning, expose the child to the story frequently -- A well-crafted social story with the child as main character is usually attractive to the young child. Older children may be more motivated by the opportunity to learn a skill. In some cases, a school-related story might be made part of homework (and perhaps the teacher would be willing to endorse this plan).

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